Plus: Q4 GDP Growth, Falling Jobless Claims and Conveyor Industry Shipments in 2009.

U.S. Economy Grows 5.6 Percent
During the final three months of 2009, the United States economy grew at its fastest pace in six years, according to U.S. Department of Commerce estimates released last week. U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the U.S. — increased at a 5.6 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter, revised down from the 5.9 percent growth reported a month ago.

“The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from private inventory investment, exports, personal consumption expenditures and nonresidential fixed investment,” the Commerce Department said on Friday. “Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.”

In the past year (from Q4 2008 to Q4 2009), real GDP rose 0.1 percent. For all of 2009, GDP fell 2.4 percent.

A separate report from the Commerce Department last week found that the nation’s durable goods orders increased 0.5 percent in February. New orders for manufactured durable goods last month rose $0.9 billion to $178.1 billion, marking the third consecutive monthly increase and following a 3.9 percent January rise. (More on this later in the week)

Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected
New initial jobless claims fell in the latest week reported, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The seasonally adjusted initial claims in the week ended March 20 came to 442,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 456,000. The four-week moving average for initial claims fell 11,000 from the previous week’s 464,750.

Without seasonal adjustments, initial claims dropped by 30,447 from the prior week. New jobless claims have fallen three of the last four weeks, making up for a significant portion of increases that occurred in the first two months of the year, according to the Associated Press.

Despite layoffs continuing to decline, many remain concerned over the pace and sustainability of current employment trends, citing still-sluggish growth in job recovery.

“While the latest decrease in claims proves to be a good sign for the labor market, the fact [that] they still remain so high is worrisome to many economists,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “[T]he country’s current unemployment rate still stands at an inflated 9.7 percent.”

The focus is increasingly on government support for employment, according to CNNMoney.com. Earlier this month, Congress extended the unemployment insurance deadline through May 5 and President Obama signed a new employment initiative that provides $17.6 billion in tax breaks designed to boost hiring.

Conveyor Industry Shipments Drop in 2009
North American shipments of conveyor equipment last year dropped 22.74 percent, or $1.76 billion, to approximately $6 billion, according to estimates by the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA). 2009 broke the conveyor industry’s five-year growth streak.

CEMA also estimates that new orders decreased 17.79 percent, or $1.18 billion, totaling $5.71 billion, in 2009.

CEMA President Todd Swinderman announced the results at the association’s 77th annual meeting earlier this month.

Despite falling orders and shipments, executives attending the annual meeting were cautiously optimistic, forecasting a 2 percent increase in shipments for 2010.

U.S. Slides in Global Network Rankings
The U.S. slipped in global Internet and communication technologies (ICT) rankings this year, falling from third place in 2008-2009 to fifth place in 2009-2010, according to the World Economic Forum‘s (WEF) latest annual networking report.

The report’s Networked Readiness Index evaluates 133 countries based on how effectively their ICT influences general business conditions; the regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; and the ability for individuals, businesses and governments to leverage these technologies for their benefit.

For the first time, Sweden has taken the top position in the global rankings, followed by Singapore, Denmark and Switzerland.

“Sweden, Singapore and Denmark’s superior capacity to leverage ICT as an enabler of sustainable, long-term economic growth is built on similar premises, relating with a long-standing focus placed by governments and private sectors alike on education, innovation and ICT access and diffusion,” Irene Mia, a senior economist at the WEF and co-author of the report, said in an announcement of the findings.

“The U.S. ranked 22 among the percentage of people who have broadband subscriptions and No. 48 on the quality of our science and math education,” NPR’s All Tech Considered blog reports. “This seems rather distressing for a nation that invented the Internet.”